Jan.31st
, '16 Sunday Homily : Fr.Francis Chirackal CMI
Jer
1:4-5, 17-19; 1Cor 12:31-13:13; Lk 4:21-30
For Readings
Some of you may be remembering the story or
seen the movie on Archbishop Oscar Romero. He was born in a town in the
mountains east of El Salvador, on 15 August 1917. In February 1977, Oscar
Romero became Archbishop of San Salvador. As Archbishop of San Salvador, he was
a source of strength and hope for the poor and for the oppressed of his
country, working with and for them, taking their struggles as his own. Romero
wrote and spoke passionately and publicly of the need for Christians to work
for justice and freedom. He was frequently faced with opposition, persecution,
threat and danger from those who opposed his ideas including the government. On
March 24, 1980, while celebrating the Eucharist, Archbishop Romero was shot and
killed at the Altar by a death squad assassin, paying the highest price for his
commitment to the Word of God. He became a martyr, not only for poor
Salvadorians, but for all struggling to overcome oppression and poverty. In
today’s gospel, we see how Jesus was rejected and nearly attacked, when He did
the works of God and spoke the truth.
Today’s first reading from the book of
Jeremiah, speaks of the way that God calls someone to be His prophet from the
beginning and demands him to speak fearlessly, His Words, before the people.
God assures His support. St.Paul in the second reading echoes the message of
Jesus, that love and charity are the most important virtues and all other gifts
are to serve these virtues. The Gospel,
presents Jesus who was rejected by his own people, and their attempt to kill
him. Because, Jesus spoke the truth which was not pleasing to some people. Many
of the people were not expecting a spiritual kingdom of God, but a political
Messiah. Some people like to hear the words, which are politically correct, not
morally or actually right. Jesus was not acceptable to many, as he was not
speaking and behaving politically correct. Jesus was conveying His heavenly
Father’s message. So his words and teachings were not appealing to many people.
That made him a victim of frequent false accusations, and attempts to kill and
crucify him at the end.
For many, he was a looser, as he didn’t
change his way of preaching by adapting a politically correct method. He
continued his preaching, the life-giving words of the heavenly Father, even
after seeing that many people, who were influential and powerful didn’t like
them. But, for Jesus, the truth was not to be hidden, but to be proclaimed,
whether it hurts someone or not. For Jesus, if the truth hurts anybody, that is
a call for repentance and conversion. This is what happened in the life of
Herod, many of the Pharisees, Zacchaeus, Mary the sinner, Peter, St.Paul, and
thousands and thousands of people in history. For some it caused repentance and
conversion, while for many it caused anger, revenge and departure. Look at and
think about some of today’s trends and working principle of many people in all
realms of life, whether political, business, administration or religious.
Taking politically correct stand, making feeling-good policy and appeasing
words have become the guiding principle of many people. For what? The answer is, for fulfilling their selfish
motives and to attain their selfish vested interests. They promote their evil
intentions in a disguised way. In the spirit of the Word of God, they may be
called the people of ‘dead conscience’. In this Jubilee year of mercy, Our holy
Father Pope Francis reminds us not to be the persons of dead conscience, but
God’s mercy, who follow the spirit of the gospels. He not only reminds, but
shows by example.
The rejection of Jesus by many people and
consequential hard times and sufferings, are the great source of strength and
hope for all of us. A life of love and truth invite hardships and sufferings
for the good of others. In our day to day lives we may encounter people and
situations which may make our lives extremely difficult when we speak the truth,
live and act according to the Word of God. There, we can rightly be assured of
Jesus’ presence and support as he has suffered all these things before us to
give us courage. Every believer in Christ, needs to live an authentic life by
performing their roles and heading towards the Heavenly Kingdom, with love and
charity.
A life of true love and charity, which is
free from all kinds of selfishness can’t escape the prophetic role. So the
prophets and Jesus were compelled to speak the truth without option. Throughout
the salvific history, Yahweh, loved the human race from the beginning as his
own children. It didn’t prevent him from cautioning the people about evil
doings or punishing them for their sins and evils. Jesus always loved and
accepted sinners and whenever the situations demanded, He went to the sinners
to bring them back to the right path. We see this in the case of Samaritan
woman. Those who were receptive to the grace saw the love and compassion beyond
those words and the required steps needed to find salvation in Jesus. It is
true, that our God is not a punishing God, but a saving God. But, a mind and
body predominantly in tune with worldly motives and pleasures may not be able
to adjust to the saving process, without any strain. That is the point of
repentance and conversion.
Archbishop Romero, would have saved his
life by becoming politically correct in that oppressive and exploiting
situation. Jesus embraced the Crucifix, for our salvation. There were people
who loved Jesus’ teachings and examples. It was with those people He
established His Church, as all of his Apostles were Jewish ones. Nicodemus was
also a Jewish leader. This is what many of the martyrs, like Thomas More and
others imitated.
Fear of losing the approval and popularity
among the affluent may hinder one from speaking the truth, or teaching the
right thing, as it may cause discomfort in the hearer or block fulfilment of one's selfish motives. But, to give the right information
as Jesus did, is our duty. Even if we are rejected and fulfilled our God-given
responsibility, we will be carrying out God’s work for His children and our own
salvation. Therefore, let us follow what Jesus asks us to do, irrespective of
the sweet or bitter response we get from others, or what others are doing.
Jesus is greater and He is with us, and let us be Spirit filled and follow the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit will lead us and reward us. Lasting joy will be ours. God bless
you.
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